2009 MLB Season

[foreverfree]

Getting back to Buehrle and Wise: I'm playing devil's advocate here, but would we CF'ers be complaining on the same level, if at all, over the amount of ink and headlines Wise's catch drew if he were Caucasian like Buehrle? John

<div> </div>
<div>No, because if he were white, Wise's catch wouldn't have been given equal (or even superior) status to Buehrle's extremely rare feat.  The catch deserved prominent mention, especially because it was made in the 9th innning, but not to the degree it has.  Rusty Greer made a great diving catch in the 9th inning to preserve Kenny Rogers' perfect game in 1994, but that catch was not made as big a story as the perfect game itself, as has been the case with Wise.</div>

Ok, it's making sense now. Thanks, Don.

John

 

[Bear Backer]

The Indians and Phillies agree on a deal sending Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francsico to Philadelphia for minor leaguers SP Carlos Carrasco, SS Jason Donald, C Lou Marson and SP Jason Knapp.

Pretty safe to say that if the Phillies were not the true front runners in the NL, they certainly are now. Happ has pitched very well in limited action, Lee has been much better than his 7-9 record shows. I guess the big question is which Cole Hamels will show up. The one who was stellar during the 2008 playoffs or the one who has been sort of iffy during the 2009 regular season. If they have two out of three of those guys pitching well, or perhaps even Blanton contributing, they will be very tough to beat.

 

[Deadlift]

Verlander notched a signature win over the Red Sox the other day.


Roy Halladay shut-down the Rays' for win #13 yesterday.
________


In the NL yesterday, aces Wainwright, Haren and Josh Johnson dominated their opponents and got W's.

Keep it up!

 

[Don Wassall]

The playoff races are a mixed bag. The Yankees have the best record in MLB but have a noticeable increase in white contributors this year. Ditto for the Tigers, who could still lose out in the AL Central to the whiter Twins or White Sox. Two white friendly teams, Boston and Texas, are the leading contenders for the wildcard spot.

In the NL, the white friendly Cardinals are coming on strong, thanks in part to picking up players like Matt Holliday and John Smoltz. The Dodgers, with few white players but lots of part-white and nearly all-white ones,are in a pretty good slump, being chased by the white friendly Rockies. The Phils are less white than last year but still have key players like Utley, Werth, Hamels and the newly acquired Cliff Lee. The Braves have a shot at the wildcard. The Caste Mets and Cubs are major disappointments.

All the Triple Crown talk surrounding the media's latest Great Non-White Hope, Albert Pujols, is over as Pujols leads now only in homers and is being hotly pursued by Mark Reynolds. The amazing Joe Mauer has a good chance to win his third batting title and second in a row. The top five RBI men in the AL are white, with Justin Morneau currently one ahead of Mark Teixeira. Five of the top seven HR hitters in the AL are white.

And other than C. C. Sabathia in the AL and Johann Santana in the NL, starting pitching is again being dominated by whites. Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[Bear Backer]

The playoff races are a mixed bag.  The Yankees have the best record in MLB but have a noticeable increase in white contributors this year.  Ditto for the Tigers, who could still lose out in the AL Central to the whiter Twins or White Sox.  Two white friendly teams, Boston and Texas, are the leading contenders for the wildcard spot.
<div> </div>
<div>In the NL, the white friendly Cardinals are coming on strong, thanks in part to picking up players like Matt Holliday and John Smoltz.  The Dodgers, with few white players but lots of part-white and nearly all-white ones, are in a pretty good slump, being chased by the white friendly Rockies.  The Phils are less white than last year but still have key players like Utley, Werth, Hamels and the newly acquired Cliff Lee.  The Braves have a shot at the wildcard.  The Caste Mets and Cubs are major disappointments.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>All the Triple Crown talk surrounding the media's latest Great Non-White Hope, Albert Pujols, is over as Pujols leads now only in homers and is being hotly pursued by Mark Reynolds.  The amazing Joe Mauer has a good chance to win his third batting title and second in a row.  The top five RBI men in the AL are white, with Justin Morneau currently one ahead of Mark Teixeira.  Five of the top seven HR hitters in the AL are white.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>And other than C. C. Sabathia in the AL and Johann Santana in the NL, starting pitching is again being dominated by whites.  </div>

Pujols better get his act together. The Cardinals have their best chance in a long while to be a legit contender without having to beat the odds as an underdog like they did in 2006. He has been slumping lately and has really been looking surly as of late since the addition of Matt Holliday, who has come in and lit a fire under the Cardinals. I think Albert is feeling a bit jealous to be honest. Albert is a good player but sometimes his style of play irritates Me. He is too aggressive in trying to heet homeroons when all he needs is a single and is notorious for trying to stretch singles into doubles and is not always successful in doing so. They always say his aggression on the base paths is part of what makes him good, but I question that. He is too aggressive at times. He has made his share of boneheaded base running mistakes in the past and he made a HORRIBLE base running mistake the other day where he wasn't paying attention and got himself called out at second by not giving Ryan a chance to get back to the bag, scowling at Ryan as he went back to the dugout like it was Brendan's fault. Later he almost made another bad mistake (Which should have just been baseball 101) by nearly overrunning a runner on the way to third ( believe Ludwick, cant remember) because he once again wasn't paying attention and didn't see that Luddy had to wait to see if the ball was going to be playable. Pujols had a better angle on the play coming from first, while Ludwick had to turn around and look behind him at second.

 

[Don Wassall]

It's astounding how many hispanics are terrible base runners. One would think if they are so eager to escapefrom povertyin their homelands and hit it big in the U.S.that they would embrace learning the fundamentals of baseball. . .

 

[LabMan]

as always,very little media coverage on all of the fine White MLB stars!

 

[white is right]

The playoff races are a mixed bag.  The Yankees have the best record in MLB but have a noticeable increase in white contributors this year.  Ditto for the Tigers, who could still lose out in the AL Central to the whiter Twins or White Sox.  Two white friendly teams, Boston and Texas, are the leading contenders for the wildcard spot.
<div> </div>
<div>In the NL, the white friendly Cardinals are coming on strong, thanks in part to picking up players like Matt Holliday and John Smoltz.  The Dodgers, with few white players but lots of part-white and nearly all-white ones, are in a pretty good slump, being chased by the white friendly Rockies.  The Phils are less white than last year but still have key players like Utley, Werth, Hamels and the newly acquired Cliff Lee.  The Braves have a shot at the wildcard.  The Caste Mets and Cubs are major disappointments.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>All the Triple Crown talk surrounding the media's latest Great Non-White Hope, Albert Pujols, is over as Pujols leads now only in homers and is being hotly pursued by Mark Reynolds.  The amazing Joe Mauer has a good chance to win his third batting title and second in a row.  The top five RBI men in the AL are white, with Justin Morneau currently one ahead of Mark Teixeira.  Five of the top seven HR hitters in the AL are white.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>And other than C. C. Sabathia in the AL and Johann Santana in the NL, starting pitching is again being dominated by whites.  </div>

Pujols better get his act together. The Cardinals have their best chance in a long while to be a legit contender without having to beat the odds as an underdog like they did in 2006. He has been slumping lately and has really been looking surly as of late since the addition of Matt Holliday, who has come in and lit a fire under the Cardinals. I think Albert is feeling a bit jealous to be honest. Albert is a good player but sometimes his style of play irritates Me. He is too aggressive in trying to heet homeroons when all he needs is a single and is notorious for trying to stretch singles into doubles and is not always successful in doing so. They always say his aggression on the base paths is part of what makes him good, but I question that. He is too aggressive at times. He has made his share of boneheaded base running mistakes in the past and he made a HORRIBLE base running mistake the other day where he wasn't paying attention and got himself called out at second by not giving Ryan a chance to get back to the bag, scowling at Ryan as he went back to the dugout like it was Brendan's fault. Later he almost made another bad mistake (Which should have just been baseball 101) by nearly overrunning a runner on the way to third ( believe Ludwick, cant remember) because he once again wasn't paying attention and didn't see that Luddy had to wait to see if the ball was going to be playable. Pujols had a better angle on the play coming from first, while Ludwick had to turn around and look behind him at second.

How does a guy built like a brick wall have any base running ability at all. I admittedly don't see many Cardinals games. But the few that I have seen he reminds me of a tanned Gorman Thomas or a paler Frank Thomas on the base paths.

 

[Bear Backer]

The playoff races are a mixed bag.  The Yankees have the best record in MLB but have a noticeable increase in white contributors this year.  Ditto for the Tigers, who could still lose out in the AL Central to the whiter Twins or White Sox.  Two white friendly teams, Boston and Texas, are the leading contenders for the wildcard spot.
<div> </div>
<div>In the NL, the white friendly Cardinals are coming on strong, thanks in part to picking up players like Matt Holliday and John Smoltz.  The Dodgers, with few white players but lots of part-white and nearly all-white ones, are in a pretty good slump, being chased by the white friendly Rockies.  The Phils are less white than last year but still have key players like Utley, Werth, Hamels and the newly acquired Cliff Lee.  The Braves have a shot at the wildcard.  The Caste Mets and Cubs are major disappointments.  </div>
<div> </div>
<div>All the Triple Crown talk surrounding the media's latest Great Non-White Hope, Albert Pujols, is over as Pujols leads now only in homers and is being hotly pursued by Mark Reynolds.  The amazing Joe Mauer has a good chance to win his third batting title and second in a row.  The top five RBI men in the AL are white, with Justin Morneau currently one ahead of Mark Teixeira.  Five of the top seven HR hitters in the AL are white.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>And other than C. C. Sabathia in the AL and Johann Santana in the NL, starting pitching is again being dominated by whites.  </div>

Pujols better get his act together. The Cardinals have their best chance in a long while to be a legit contender without having to beat the odds as an underdog like they did in 2006. He has been slumping lately and has really been looking surly as of late since the addition of Matt Holliday, who has come in and lit a fire under the Cardinals. I think Albert is feeling a bit jealous to be honest. Albert is a good player but sometimes his style of play irritates Me. He is too aggressive in trying to heet homeroons when all he needs is a single and is notorious for trying to stretch singles into doubles and is not always successful in doing so. They always say his aggression on the base paths is part of what makes him good, but I question that. He is too aggressive at times. He has made his share of boneheaded base running mistakes in the past and he made a HORRIBLE base running mistake the other day where he wasn't paying attention and got himself called out at second by not giving Ryan a chance to get back to the bag, scowling at Ryan as he went back to the dugout like it was Brendan's fault. Later he almost made another bad mistake (Which should have just been baseball 101) by nearly overrunning a runner on the way to third ( believe Ludwick, cant remember) because he once again wasn't paying attention and didn't see that Luddy had to wait to see if the ball was going to be playable. Pujols had a better angle on the play coming from first, while Ludwick had to turn around and look behind him at second.

How does a guy built like a brick wall have any base running ability at all. I admittedly don't see many Cardinals games. But the few that I have seen he reminds me of a tanned Gorman Thomas or a paler Frank Thomas on the base paths.

Pujols isn't exactly what you would call the most fleet footed player in MLB, but he is very aggressive and opportunistic. That works to his advantage allot of the times when fielders just aren't expecting him to try to stretch a single into a double. The same thing holds true for his ability to steal a base. To look at him and watch the way he runs, you would think that he would just be a station to station player, but he isn't. Allot of times, he just seems to catch the opposition off guard because they don't think he will risk taking a chance. He has spurts where sometimes he will be fairly successful marred by other occasions where looks like a complete fool, but it doesn't seem to deter him one way or another. He just keeps doing his thing, and honestly I don't know why other teams don't pay more attention to him, when his reputation is that he will often try to take the extra bag or attempt a steal when he probably shouldn't.

 

[Deadlift]

Two Thumbs UP to A's rookie, Trevor Cahill, for shutting down the ultra-Caste Angels!! That made me happy!

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/1619075


All things considered, Daniel Murphy is playing well. A lot of his outs are fly ball outs, so he's making contact. He has 28 doubles now, which, believe it or not, is more than many affletes and latinos.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/1208667

He'd be a terror in Philly or Texas or Saint Louis.

 

[LabMan]

The "ultra caste Angels",so true,sad that in 2002 most of the starting nine players were White Americans.

 

[Don Wassall]

Another emerging young star is Toronto outfielder Adam Lind, who is hitting .303 and ranks among AL leaders with 27 home runs and 89 RBIs after knocking in eight last night.

 

[Deadlift]

Gordon Beckham just hit his 10th HR - off of reliable closer Joe Nathan!

I watch a lot of White Sox games, and it's great to see that the handsome - Beckham - is developing a following with attractive ladies that go to Sox games. Gordon is selling tickets!

 

[Deadlift]

Holliday is incredible.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/181555


Imagine his stats if he played a FULL season in St. Louis!

 

[mrjohnnynofear]

Holliday is incredible.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/181555


Imagine his stats if he played a FULL season in St. Louis!

The Cardinals are a great team to watch. Albert is a great player and will probably get the MVP. But if Holliday was here for the entire year, he could give Pujols a run for his money for the MVP. It would be like what is happening with Carpenter and Wainwright for the Cy Young. Also Ludwick is putting together another strong season. Look for a strong post season run.

 

[Bear Backer]

Holliday is incredible.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/181555


Imagine his stats if he played a FULL season in St. Louis!

The Cardinals are a great team to watch. Albert is a great player and will probably get the MVP. But if Holliday was here for the entire year, he could give Pujols a run for his money for the MVP. It would be like what is happening with Carpenter and Wainwright for the Cy Young. Also Ludwick is putting together another strong season. Look for a strong post season run.

The Cards have a very good chance of competing with anyone this year in the post season so long as Carp, Waino, Franklin and Holliday stay healthy. Albert Pujols is a great player no doubt, but in my mind the Cardinals are absolutely depending on those 4 players I listed above. Holly has been the biggest energizer to the Cards since Larry Walker and Will Clark. If Smoltzy can continue to look good and be either a 4th starter or work out of the pen come playoff time it will be another boost.

 

[Deadlift]

Jason Bay is on a tear. 36 HRs now.

Daniel Murphy is on a tear. He now has 11 HR, 36 doubles and 4 triples.

Brian Roberts had 54 doubles the last time I checked.

 

[Deadlift]

Billy Butler is a star for the lowly Royals!

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/584800


21 HRs and 50 doubles is very impressive for someone as young as he is.


-Don has mentioned Adam Lind. He now has 32 HRs and 109 RBI.

-Brian McCann has 90 RBI.

-Michael Cuddyer is playing very well. Aaron Hill and Joey Votto are raking.

 

[jaxvid]

Tigers and Twins have started a 4 game set that may determine the Central title. While it's hard to not like the Twins with Mauer and Morneau (among others) at least the Tigers have "lightened" up recently. Laird is the catcher, Inge 3B, Everett SS, and Clete Thomas or Ryan Rayburn getting significant time at OF/1st. Huff is usually the DH. The pitchers are almost all white except for the closer and Edwin Jackson.

The teams split a double header last night leaving the Tigers 2 up. If the Tigers can at least split the next two they should be able to hold on.

 

[Freethinker]

No offense, I'm going for the Twins jaxvid. I like Clete Thomas alot but he can't stack up with Mauer, Cuddyer and Kubel.

The Blue Jays have 2 young sluggers emerging this season: Adam Lind (35 homers. 3 against the BoSox last night!) and Aaron Hill (36 homers. Sick for 2B). When you throw in Travis Snyder, they are going to be fun to watch the next few years.

 

[jaxvid]

No offense, I'm going for the Twins jaxvid. I like Clete Thomas alot but he can't stack up with Mauer, Cuddyer and Kubel.

The Blue Jays have 2 young sluggers emerging this season: Adam Lind (35 homers. 3 against the BoSox last night!) and Aaron Hill (36 homers. Sick for 2B). When you throw in Travis Snyder, they are going to be fun to watch the next few years.

I understand. I like the Twins too and would not be unhappy if they win it but the Tigers are more fun to watch now that they have some whibro's on the team and are an improvement over many teams.

 

[whiteathlete33]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-twins100109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Another "affletes" temper!

 

[Deadlift]

Gerald Laird has Mexican ancestry - which can mean many things but I would say that he's likely a mestizo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Laird


When I first saw his pic on his CBS player page a few months back, my "eye test" indicated to me that he was Latino. Gerald is also a fairly popular name in the Latino community.

If someone wants to say, "hey, a lot of people have Mexican ancestry these days"... I wouldn't deny that but what about Jorge Cantu and Jeremy Hermida? I don't recall ever seeing them referred to as our athletes on this site. Sure, Hermida has really struggled this year...

Both are from Texas and both play for the Florida Marlins. They are definitely LARGELY Spanish for sure.

Adrian Gonzalez is obviously mixed and he's a one-trick pony. Anyways, looking at Laird's skull and listening to his speech patterns, my take is that he's mixed.

In a "color blind" MLB, there would be Americans of Mexican lineage in the league of course. That's not the point of my post. White or not is the issue, and non-black doesn't magically equal White! People can support who they want, but ancestry is something concrete.

 

[jaxvid]

Tigers and Twins in a playoff for the division title. It should be a good one. Advantage Twins since it's in the Metrodome and they are hitting very well right now. It's the 2nd year in a row for the Twinkies to be in a one-game playoff for a division pennant.

 

[Kaptain]

A win for the Twins would be big for Joe Mauer. Even without Morneau the Twins have Kubel and Cuddyear as their next best hitters besides Mauer. Nathan also is one of the best relievers in the game. I'm pulling for the Twins.